


To Catch a Thief

by Vinvalen



Series: Kaleidoscope [4]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 04:05:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4464830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vinvalen/pseuds/Vinvalen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuffie gets more than she bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Catch a Thief

Cid rounded a corner of the corridor leading to the Highwind’s crew quarters just in time to observe Yuffie with her back plastered to the wall outside Vincent’s open cabin door. Between her brows was pressed the great triple barrels of Cerberus- all three hammers back. Vincent’s expression betrayed nothing more than it ever did, aside from one elegantly arched eyebrow. Vincent’s mouth was a thin, grim line, his ruby gaze locked with that of Yuffie, who was visibly trembling, her face colorless. 

Cid froze mid-step, unable to do anything but watch as the scene played itself out. There would be no way he could ever move in time to prevent disaster. Vincent extended his gauntleted hand toward her slowly and Yuffie, equally slowly, reached into some hidden pocket and shakily withdrew three orbs of materia, dropping them into Vincent’s outstretched hand. 

What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion; Cid would forever remember the sound of three distinct clicks as Vincent squeezed the trigger and Cerberus’ hammers came down. 

A long moment passed. Yuffie slid down the wall to land with a thud just as Cid felt his own knees threaten to give way, but he held himself upright by sheer force of will. 

Yuffie didn’t faint, but her face bore an expression of a lesson well learned as she swallowed hard and looked back up at Vincent, her eyes impossibly wide. Vincent merely stared back down at her. He placed his recovered materia into a fold of his cloak before reaching into another hidden pocket and withdrawing Cerberus’ elaborate firing pin mechanism, holding it where Yuffie could see it clearly. Only then did the gunman speak.

“I trust there will not be a repeat of this performance.” It was not a question.

Yuffie shook her head vigorously, her face still chalk white.

With the claw tip of his gauntlet, Vincent reached down and gathered a bit of the powder residue from the three perfect circles Cerberus’ barrels had left centered above Yuffie’s eyebrows, and delicately drew the stem of a clover down to the bridge of her nose. All this was accomplished without the gunman ever changing expression.

Cid waited the space of several heartbeats until he could be assured of his voice being steady.

“Brat, ya just earned yer scrawny ass a solid month in the cargo hold cleanin’ out the chocobo stalls, and they damned well better be sparklin’ when I get down there to look. I suggest ya start _now.”_

Yuffie went.

When her running steps upon the metal stairs at the far end of the corridor had faded away, Cid allowed himself to give into laughter. He grinned at Vincent, who hadn’t changed position except to reholster the big gun.

“Ya’ really had me goin’ there, Vin,” Cid chortled.

Without moving his head, Vincent shifted his ruby gaze sideways to level upon the pilot. “Did I give you the impression I was joking?” 

Cid’s jaw gaped, and his cigarette fell from his lips to strike his bare arm on its way to the floor. Startled into swearing, he jumped, then angrily ground the butt under his boot heel, his obsession regarding his ship’s pristine state momentarily forgotten. “Ya mean ya woulda…”

A spark of humor flashed through Vincent’s eyes before he turned to enter his cabin. “I don’t have a habit of shooting children, Highwind…no matter how annoying they may be,” Vincent said over his shoulder just before the door closed quietly in the pilot’s face.

Cid stared at the gunman’s door for several long moments, blinking owlishly before snickering again and bending down to clean up his cigarette butt. Proceeding in the direction Yuffie had taken, he went to check on the ninja girl’s newly inspired industriousness. 

The fact that Yuffie never again attempted to steal another piece of materia from any member of their team may have been purely coincidental, but somehow Cid doubted it.


End file.
